Day one of "professional development" was a long one, to say the least. I sat through a morning of boring talk, explaining the very thing that was explained on retreat. In the afternoon, I met up with Max and Elitia, and went over our pacing guides. Mine was pretty much right on target with what Max had thought. That was quite a relief, seeing as I thought he would rip me a new one.

After my Math meeting, I made my way to my classroom. It's by far the biggest classroom, located right next to the Principal's office and the staircase. All of the desks and all 2 of the chairs are extremely old and falling apart. I was assured that new desks and chairs are on their way, and that I have first dibs! What a relief!

Day two of "professional development" was not so smooth. Apparently my principal likes to run things in a hands off fashion. This is nice for me as far as curriculum goes. She recognizes that she does not know math, and can not tell me what to teach, or when to teach it. This sucks when she fails to make administrative decisions in advance, and leaves it up to 12 very different-minded (some all too outspoken) teachers and aids to decide upon. I just want her to say "This is how it's going to happen" and if anyone does not like it, we can discuss.

Also, the desk and chair problem only got worse. THere are no extra desks or chairs to be found. I was about 20 chairs short and 4 desks at the end of the day. Mr Bialy, the Art teacher, also known as "papa bear" assured me that he will pilfer some desks and chairs for me, and that when I come in on Tuesday, my room will be all set to go. Papa Bear is also the Union Rep at the school. Needless to say, we'll get along famously.

I met two of the girls in my honors class yesterday. They were extremely sweet, but I couldn't help but feel like I was blowing up my spot. I was nice and laughed a little with them. This is not how I want to be known the first month of school. Honestly, I want to be an evil, but respected, classroom dictator. Then I'll loosen up a bit and be myself. We'll see how this goes.

Alright, I'm going to run to the teacher supply store while ray is still sleeping.